Faculty of Commerce, Law and Management (Research Outputs)

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A Wealth Tax for South Africa
(Southern Centre for Inquality Studies (SCIS), 2018-01) Terreblanche, Sampie
A Wealth Tax for South Africa
(Southern Centre for Inequality Studies (SCIS), 2021-01) Chatterjee, Aroop; Czajka, Léo; Gethin, Amory
This paper considers the feasibility of implementing a progressive wealth tax to collect additional government revenue to both reinforce fiscal sustainability in the wake of the COVID-19 crisis and reduce persistent extreme inequality in South Africa. Drawing on our new companion paper, we first identify the tax base and discuss the design of potential tax schedules. Testing alternative tax schedules, we estimate how much additional revenue could be collected from a progressive tax on the top 1% richest South Africans. Our results show that under conservative assumptions, a wealth tax could raise between 70 and 160 billion Rands—1.5% to 3.5% of the South African GDP.We discuss in turn how sensitive our estimates are to assumptions on (1) mismeasurement of wealth and (2) tax avoidance and evasion, based on the most recent tax policy literature. We examine technical issues related to the enforcement of the tax, and how third-party reporting and pre-filled declarations could be used to optimize measurement of taxable wealth and minimize evasion and avoidance opportunities. Finally, we explain how this new tax could interact with other capital related taxes already in place in South Africa, and discuss the potential impact on growth.
Achieving Equality for Women: The Limits of a Bill of Rights
(Centre for Applied Legal Studies, 1992-06) Albertyn, Cathi
Addressing Constraints to South Africa’s Agriculture Inclusiveness
(Southern Centre for Inequality Studies (SCIS), 2021-09) Sihlobo, Wandile; Qobo, Mzukisi
South Africa’s agriculture remains dualistic, with large scale commercial farmers who are predominately white and small-scale and subsistence farmers that are mainly black. These disparities in fortunes result from the long history of segregation policies and apartheid. The efforts to build an inclusive agricultural sector through the upliftment of black farmers by the new democratic government since 1994 have failed. As such, black farmers in South Africa still constitute between 5 and 10 per cent of the overall commercial production. We explore the constraints to inclusive growth drive in the agricultural and agribusiness sector and offer recommendations for improvement. These include a need for increased efficiency at the local government for ensuring service delivery to farming towns, blended finance instruments for funding farmer development, and the prioritization of private-public-partnership approaches for farmer development and land reform projects. We frame the interventions for the post-COVID-19 dispensation, focusing on the potential role of agriculture in fostering inclusion and supporting rural economies and employment.
Africa’s agency in the competing narratives of external partners in Africa’s digital market A comparison of Japan and China
(University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2023-09) Kinnes, Shaun; Rubidge, Laura
According to United Nations reports, Africa’s economic growth potential is among the highest in the world. It is thus unsurprising that many global powers have turned their attention to the continent, often motivated by the opportunity to help Africa ‘leapfrog’ infrastructure challenges through funding the innovative application of information and communication technologies (ICTs). As the global competition for Africa’s economic growth and, more specifically, Africa’s digital sector heats up, understanding Africa’s interests and agency within these negotiations becomes increasingly pertinent. This article explores some of the competing narratives provided by external states that seek a stake in the development of Africa’s profitable digital market. The article employs Lesley Masters’ (2021) digital diplomacy lens defined as ‘a means of navigating the evolving international digital governance regime and negotiating a more even playing field to address the inequalities in the international structure’. The article compares and contrasts the narratives that are framed by two ‘competitors’, namely China and Japan. These two states are expected to become significant players in the development of Africa’s digital market; China has become one of the most important funders in ICT networks in the global South and Japan’s recent pledge of $30 billion in aid to Africa includes the digital technology sector.
AI–Citizens’ relationship: Analysing Egypt and Mauritius national AI strategies
(University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2023-09) Hendawy, Mennatullah; Ansari, Zahra
Recently, in the African context, there has been a great appetite for digitising services, more specifically infrastructure services, and using artificial intelligence (AI). To facilitate the development of AI, governments publish national AI strategies (NAS). In this context, governments across Africa started to issue national AI strategies to keep up with the advancements in AI (see Bareis and Katzenbach, 2022). So far, few African countries have published national AI strategies (Digiwatch, 2020; TRT Afrika, 2023). Mauritius and Egypt are the only African countries with a publicly available national strategy outlining vision and objectives (Onyango, 2022). There is an increased use of artificial intelligence (AI) in infrastructures that support the many functions performed by society. For example, public transportation, (renewable) energy, education and workplaces have all included AI and smart technology in their infrastructure. Building on the need to ensure access to AI infrastructure as it continues to disrupt African cities, this paper uses the understandings from the analytical framework of infrastructure citizenship to analyse Egypt and Mauritius NASs in order to explore the following: How is the relationship between citizens and infrastructure (AI applications) portrayed in each strategy? and How are AI applications framed in both strategies to improve or hinder the relationship between citizens and infrastructure?
Appointments to the Public Service in the Post-Apartheid South Africa and the Need for Constitutional Checks and Balances
(Centre for Applied Legal Studies, 1993-11) Kahanovitz, Colin
Assessing South Africa’s Loan Guarantee Scheme to support firms during the Covid-19 Pandemic
(University of the Witwatersrand, 2023) Creamer, Kenneth, Dr; Mahafu, Vuyisiwe
This article presents a timeline and data on South Africa’s Loan Guarantee Scheme (LGS) established in response to the Covid-19 pandemic. It defines the LGS take-up rate as a key measure of the effectiveness of the policy’s design and implementation. It references relevant theoretical literature, on co-ordination theory, incentive structures, information asymmetries and market failures, to provide explanations for the low take-up rate of South Africa’s LGS. It presents comparative data on the take up rates and design features of LGS-type interventions in a number of other countries. Finally, the article draws lessons from South Africa’s LGS experience which would be relevant for planners and policy makers implementing similar such policies in future.
Austerity Without Consolidation: Fiscal policy and spending choices in Budget 2023
(Southern Centre for Inequality Studies (SCIS), 2023-06-01) Sachs, Michael; Amra, Rashaad; Madonko, Thokozile; Willcox, Owen
Fiscal policy can play a crucial role in fostering growth and development by ensuring the sustainable delivery of essential public services. Managed effectively, government’s budget can help us build a common society and overcome the segregation and inequality of the past, without which sustained economic growth seems unlikely. It can also respond to temporary macroeconomic shocks to aggregate demand and livelihoods. South Africa however finds itself in a worsening fiscal impasse. There is continuous austerity, dating back more than a decade, but South Africa appears no closer to achieving fiscal consolidation. This position is steadily eroding the fiscal capabilities necessary for the state to realise the potential that fiscal action offers. Instead, the budget is increasingly becoming a drag on development.
Beyond a Treasury View of the World: Reflections from Theory and History on Heterodox Economic Policy Options for South Africa
(University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2018-05) Padayachee, Vishnu
Black Economic Empowerment Transactions in South Africa after 1994
(Southern Centre for Inequality Studies (SCIS), 2021-04) Gqubule, Duma
This paper reviews the implementation of policies to deracialise ownership within the Top 50 JSE listed companies with a focus on mining and finance which accounted for 75% of black ownership within these companies at the end of December 2020. It looks at the context in which the policies were implemented – the performance of the economy and the restructuring of apartheid era conglomerates since 1994 that created opportunities for BEE companies. The paper then evaluates the three waves of BEE transactions over the past 27 years and the failures of the Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment (B-BBEE) policy framework, which included the BEE Codes of Good Practice and sector charters in mining and finance. The paper discusses the confusing maze of statistics on black ownership and presents its own findings. The paper argues that prospects for further transformation of apartheid ownership structures are not good, with the economy likely to experience a second lost decade in terms of economic development until 2030, and due to policy design failures that have provided weak incentives for companies to enter into replacement BEE transactions.
Black Economic Empowerment: A Review of the Literature
(Southern Centre for Inequality Studies (SCIS), 2021-09) Francis, David; Valodia, Imraan
South Africa has the highest income inequality in the world. A recent report by the World Bank found the Gini coefficient of income to be 0.66, the highest of all 149 countries for which the World Bank has reliable data. In the workplace, this is reflected in vast inequalities in salaries and wages between high and low earners, but importantly between different race and gender groups. Despite a plethora of legislation aimed at addressing inequality in the workplace, women and black workers in South Africa continue to be paid less than men and white employees, even when doing the same work (the pay gap), and are more likely to work in precarious, low-paid jobs (occupational segregation). These factors are driven by differences in the characteristics of workers, and by structural discrimination in the economy. Conceptually, we can decompose structural discrimination into two forms – that which discriminates against people who do the same job, based on race and gender (the pay gap) and that which discriminates indirectly by occupational segregation – black people and women are concentrated in low-paying occupations. In this paper, we review the literature on occupational segregation and the gender and race pay gaps in post-Apartheid South Africa. We examine the various policy interventions that have attempted to address this enduring problem. In particular, we ask whether broad-based black economic empowerment – while not explicitly a labour market intervention – has had any positive impact on reducing labour market inequalities.
Black Economic Empowerment in the Automotive Manufacturing Industry: A Case for Productive Capacity Development Transformation
(Southern Centre for Inequality Studies (SCIS), 2021-09) Mashilo, Alex Mohubetswane; Moothilal, Renai
The automotive manufacturing industry has received little, if any, sustained academic attention on Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) or Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment (BBBEE). Most of the work is in the form of news capturing the reactions of industry role players, especially the lead firms in the automotive value chains, to BEE or BBBEE regulatory changes, and individual lead firms’ transformation initiatives. This working paper represents a modest attempt at laying the basis for a sustained focus on BBBEE in the automotive manufacturing industry, the mainstay of South Africa’s manufacturing base. We argue for a production development and industrial transformation approach, with the objectives of deepening and widening domestic value addition as part of localisation, and increasing employment with greater attention on expanding, diversifying and growing the lower tiers of the supplier base – the second and third-tiers.
Brazil Colonial Legacy and Growth Patterns
(Southern Centre for Inequality Studies ISCIS), 2023-07-12) Lena, Lavinas; Domingues, José Maurício; Gonçalves, Guilherme Leite; Cordilha, Ana Carolina; Bedê, Francisco; Bressan, Lucas; Constantino, João Paulo; Rubin, Pedro
This paper provides a very concise view of the trajectory of Brazil since it became a republic. It goes through the 20th century and into the 21st century to systematize how the different phases of economic development reproduced and reformatted the inequalities inherited from the country´s colonial-slave period. Its objective is to provide a timeline, framed by the structural transformations in the economy and in the political regime, which has shifted between democratic and authoritarian periods, always with a strong role for the State. In addition to characterizing the industrial accumulation pattern of what was dubbed "developmentalism", and the rupture with this pattern caused by the financialization of the economy, in the midst of the democratization process of the country, starting in the mid-1980s, the paper briefly describes how the social question evolved over time and how the oligarchic power structures remained dominant in the state apparatus and in the political system.
BRICS Cooperation and Possible Futures for the Global Economy
(University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2023) Creamer, Kenneth, Dr
Key Note Speech at Launch of Joint Research on Confidence Index of Chinese Enterprises’ Investment in South Africa, Wits University, Johannesburg, 19 May 2023, by Dr Kenneth Creamer, School of Economics and Finance, University of the Witwatersrand.
Capital and Politics: Links and Distance During the Bolsonaro Government
(Southern Centre for Inequality Studies (SCIS), 2023-07-19) Bedê, Francisco; Domingues, José Maurício; Herz, Mônica; Gonçalves, Guilherme Leite; Rodríguez, Maria Elena
The present article analyses the relation between the state and the political system, on the one side, and capital and capitalists, on the other, in Brazil, especially under the Bolsonaro government. Using data about the boards of directors of Brazil’s main companies and of the main government ministries, it brings out what amounts to an indirect relation between the two sides of this equation. It mobilizes both theoretical and empirical arguments in order to point to the idea of political dimension and political processes as a possible path to apprehend the more complex and less immediate ties between capital and politics. This does not belie the connections between them, but contradicts most of the literature, which sees a rather direct connection between them.
Chapter 2 of the Republic of South Africa Constitution Bill: A Comparison with the Interim Constitution
(Centre for Applied Legal Studies, 1996-07) Davis, Dennis M; Albertyn, Cathi; Birenbaum, Joana; Chaskalson, Matthew; Cooper, Carole; Dutton, Ian; Gutto, Shadrack; Johannessen, Lene; Klaaren, Jonathan; Mbatha, Likapha
Characterising the Relationship Between Market Power and Inequality in Southern and East Africa. Why It Matters?
(Southern Centre for Inequality Studies (SCIS), 2022) Padayachie, Karissa Moothoo; Vilakazi, Thando
This working paper focuses on competition in the southern and east Africa region where there is a range of large firms with significant market power operating across political borders. It is against this background that it is important to understand the link between market power and inequality (Kaira, 2017; Nsomba et al., 2022). This paper provides preliminary reflections on what we know about that relationship, and details reasons why we need to understand it.
Chinese artificial intelligence in Africa: Digital colonisation or liberalisation?
(University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2023-09) Tinarwo, Joseph; Babu, Suresh Chandra
In this era of globalisation and progressive digitalisation, artificial intelligence (AI) has become an integral part of our everyday lives. While AI technology is lauded for increasing economic growth and solving some of the intricate global development challenges, such as climate change as well as disease and natural disaster forecasting, it has become a threat to citizen freedom and democracy and there are concerns of data privacy and security. China is rapidly expanding its AI and has emerged as one of the leading nations in artificial intelligence, research and development, particularly in the global South. Africa is one of the continents that has become a destination of the fast-expanding Chinese AI, notwithstanding that its impacts remain unknown. This research primarily adopted a qualitative research approach to examine the impact of Chinese AI in Africa and identify opportunities for facilitating positive influence of Chinese AI and digital presence in Africa. The study found that the expansion of Chinese AI in the global South, using Zimbabwe and South Africa as case studies, has been associated with mixed results. Since its beginning in the late 1970s after the economic reform, the Chinese AI-led automation has resulted in improved productivity, particularly in agriculture, health, infrastructure and manufacturing industries. However, the Chinese AI has been associated with gross human rights violations and promotion of corrupt practices, such as patronage and rent-seeking behaviour. Additionally, Chinese AI is undermining the rule of law and the functionality and legitimacy of weaker state institutions and processes.
Click farm platforms and informal work in Brazil
(Southern Centre for Inequality Studies (SCIS), 2022-11-15) Grohmann, Rafael; Govari, Caroline; Amaral, Adriana
This paper analyses work on click farm platforms in Brazil and argues that work on these platforms updates and reproduce traditional informal work in the country. The methods involve digital ethnography on click farm platforms, WhatsApp and Facebook groups and YouTube channels, and worker interviews. The findings present relationships between informal work and work for click farm platforms in these dimensions: a) culture and language, especially from WhatsApp groups, functioning as an extension of click farms; b) vocabularies and practices around “resale” as a sign of informal work in the country; c) the role of YouTubers in spreading neoliberal discourses; and d) boundaries around the piracy market and illegality. The paper contributes to debates on the taskification of work through digital labour platforms and the widespread neoliberal discourse and identity. First, the click farm platform deepens the mechanisms of micro-work platforms by presenting new layers of “fauxtomation” and “ghost work”, in a platform labour circuit marked only by Brazilians – consumers and workers. Second, it reveals the articulation among discourses of neoliberalism, entrepreneurship, and informal work in the context of the global South.

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